Out of town retail centre – case study

Location Cribbs Causeway is located on the northern outskirts of Bristol just off Junction 17 of the M5 and within 4 miles of the M4/M5 interchange at Almondsbury. The area is bounded by Highwood Lane to the north, Cribbs Causeway dual carriageway to the west and by open land adjacent to Filton Airfield to the south. The area today extends to approximately 87ha. The area has been developed over the last 25 or so years having initially developed as a smaller number of out-of-town stores.

Planning history The Cribbs Causeway Development Area was previously agricultural land. The first substantial development to be built within the area was a Carrefour Hypermarket (now operated by Asda/Wal- Mart,) that was granted planning permission at appeal in November This comprised a retail unit with a sales area of 8,361 sq m with an additional 7,759 sq m of storage, and ancillary = (providing necessary support to the primary activities or operation of an organisation, institution, industry, or system)

Anchor stores The centre-piece of Cribbs Causeway is the indoor shopping mall, which opened in The Mall contains some 135 individual retail units on two levels; it is anchored by John Lewis and Marks and Spencer stores. It also includes 17 cafes and restaurants and a 1,200 seat food court comprising 15 food outlets.

Transport There are 7,000 free car parking spaces and it is the south west’s largest out-of-centre shopping centre. 1.7 million people live within a 60 minute drive of the shopping centre, and annual footfall is 11 million. The station is situated at The Mall and has 15 stands. The main operators that serve the bus station are First (Bristol and Somerset & Avon) and Wessex Connect. The bus station (the terminal for many bus routes) which is served by a considerable amount of bus services operating in Bristol, South Gloucestershire and Wales. Buses run from the bus station around the Bristol area and as far afield as Weston Super Mare, Bath and Cwmbran.

Leisure facilities Cribbs Causeway includes leisure facilities comprising a Hollywood Bowl, a Fitness First Health Club and various restaurants. There is a large number of out-of-town retail warehouse units including: DFS; Allied Carpets; Curry’s; B&Q; Comet; Argos; Halfords; Makro; PC World; and Toys R Us. There are also several motor dealers and a Premier Travel Inn hotel. Cribbs Causeway comprises 80,000 sq. m gross of retail and leisure floorspace.

Retail parks The two retail parks are warehouse style shops with entrances from outside. The first retail park is a group of large shops containing shops such as Argos, Currys, and Comet. Nearby is a second retail park containing Carpetright, Best Buy, Halfords, Hobbycraft, T.K. Maxx Maplin Electronics and Tesco Homeplus.

Other shops Other shops include the United Kingdom's first ASDA-Wal-Mart Supercentre, the first Morrisons supermarket in the south of England which opened in September 2003, Wickes, Toys "R" Us, Makro and DFS, also car dealers, warehouses, pubs and hotels. In a lane that passes under the motorway, is the Cribbs Business Centre. A B&Q Warehouse is now completed on the site previously owned by Tile World and Magnet. It is situated near the Morrisons supermarket. It also houses a Furniture Village.

STANDARD OPENING TIMES Monday to Friday9.30am pm Saturday9.00am pm Sunday11.00am pm Bank Holiday Mondays10.00am pm (Some stores' hours may vary)

The Mall projects

Questions What is the location of The Mall? What would be the benefits of visiting this out of town retail centre? What was the previous land use of the area? In what year did The Mall open? What are the Anchor stores? How does The Mall ensure it helps the local community? What do you think the disadvantages may be of shopping at this particular out of town retail centre?